I saw a show on the Veria channel the other day (What's Brewing) and they showed how to make your own Kombucha. It was interesting to see how it was made, but they didn't explain what the SCOBY (other than Bacteria and Yeast) was made from. I might be willing to try it once to see what all the fuss is about, but wouldn't want to invest in the materials needed to make it and then find out it was disgusting.

Indeed, the vinegary taste must have been the off-taste i noticed. The Synergy and GT's Kombucha have become pretty prevalent in health-food places like WF, but the kind I had that tasted particularly 'off' was a lesser-known brand. I wouldn't mess around with making my own, either...

I tried a commercial kombucha once...I found it extremely acid which the huge amounts of sugar that was dumped into it (during production not by me) did nothing to remedy...I really wanted to give it a decent try but I couldn't handle more than a few sips.

Kombucha is soooo good. The gingerade by GT Dave's is very refreshing. The taste is strange at first, but I have been drinking it almost everyday and I love it. It is good for detoxifying after a night of partying.

I made Kombucha for several years until my nomadic lifestyle put an end to it.

I borrowed a heating tray from a friend and a large ceramic container with a tap about 1/3 of the way from the bottom.

I never had any problems with brewing it. From what I have read many problems people experience come from insufficient heat. The little heating trays are inexpensive, inexpensive to run and should give you a trouble free experience.

I mainly brewed Chinese Hongcha & Puerh but also experimented with oolong and green teas with good success.

With the vinegar taste, I think to some degree it's an acquired taste, but with some practice with sugar levels, heat and brewing time you should be able to minimise this to some degree.

I've been meaning to start brewing again. The feeling of wellbeing after drinking it is a lovely experience.